Blog by Patricia Houlihan - Personal Real Estate Corporation

Ten-Year Value

Interest rates are going up. This puts a limited window on the time that you can get money for record-low rates.

There has never been a better time in the history of borrowed money as right now. In the 80s they had to sweat up to 20% interest payments. Today, it’s next to nothing….and the payments per $100,000 borrowed are crazy low…

Did you know you can get a 10-year loan from the bank for around 3.7%? Locking in at this rate is such a smart option, that even my fellow REALTOR®s are doing it. When you see so many homes being sold to real estate investors and agents, you know something good is going on with Vancouver real estate right now.

Sales were up 1% in May. Prices are on the upswing. The only difference is access to cheap cash. You can pay down a lot of money in 10 years. When rates go up - and they will - you can have half of your house paid off, at an unforeseen 3.7% rate!

Don’t kick yourself in couple of years when rates are bumping closer to double digits and you didn’t get access to a low-interest loan.

A lot of young people and families are holding out until prices go down to buy in. The problem with that is that by the time they are ready to buy in, interest rates will be the barrier to their investment, not affordability. It’s another problem in another pile.

The trick is to do what your parents did, and what your parents’ parents did (ask me, I know, I’m a 3rd generation Vancouver REALTOR® so my dad and my grandfather dad saw this several times in their lives) - buy in at something you can afford, even if it’s not exactly what you want. Get a two-bedroom for four people. That’s fine for now. You can move into a three bedroom once the kids grow. By that time you will have amassed a little nest egg of equity that you can use to buy a bigger purchase.

The secret is to get in NOW. Believe me, I am looking to buy more real estate myself because there’s never been a better time.